Why Did Richmond Lose Raines, Wood and Cloke — And What Did It Cost?
Richmond’s full feature “Francis Bourke answers questions.”revisits one of the most painful list-management periods in the club’s history: the departures of Geoff Raines, Bryan Wood and David Cloke.
Bourke explained that the VFL contract rules of the time could give an out-of-contract player substantial leverage. If agreement could not be reached, rival clubs could make attractive offers and Richmond sometimes faced a choice between negotiating a return or risking losing the player through an appeal process.
But is the rulebook enough to explain why three major Richmond players left? Were the departures individual contract disputes, symptoms of a club losing control of its list, or part of the wider instability that followed the 1980 premiership era?
How much did Richmond actually recover in return? What did the club lose beyond names on a team sheet — experience, leadership, combinations, identity? And why did the consequences seem to last far longer than a normal list turnover cycle?
The harder question is whether Richmond’s decline was caused by those exits or whether the exits were evidence that the decline had already started. Bourke provides part of the historical record. The full investigation follows what that record means.
Not a member yet?
Join here for less than a cup of coffee a month and unlock the full RTSSG experience: https://www.rtssg.com/plans-pricing
RTSSG.com: Richmond News By Richmond People For Richmond People!
Comments